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LA Dodgers catcher's wife delivers baby on Wisconsin interstate

A Major League catcher is thrown a curveball on a Wisconsin interstate.

His wife delivered their daughter herself on the way to the hospital.

A.J. Ellis, catcher for the Los Angeles Dodgers, missed the birth of his two older children, Ainsley and Luke, because of baseball.

So when his wife, Cindy, was due to give birth to their third child near her hometown of Milwaukee after the season ended -- he couldn't wait to be there in person -- seems like little Audrey couldn't wait, either.

"We get on the interstate and I'm driving, picking up speed, and she says to me 'how much further?' I said 'about 18 miles away' and she said 'we're not going to make it,' and the whole time she's screaming 'this is not normal,' and I'm thinking 'this is labor, this is normal' -- like I know," Ellis said.

Cindy was giving birth to Audrey in the car.

"She slid onto the seat, and I just picked her up. I don't even remember, really, it happened so fast, I just picked her up and turned her around and was just glad that it was over," Cindy said.

"At that point, on a scale of 1 to 10, I'm about a 15 or 20, and I glance to my right and Audrey's glancing right at me, with her big eyes wide open, and my panic level dropped to a 9.5," Ellis said.

The pro athlete said he was shaking so badly here along Interstate 43 while trying to call the hospital at the same time to let them know what was happening and where they were, since there were no other ERs in the area, the hospital told him to keep driving.

Like a pro, Cindy wrapped little Audrey in a jacket to keep her warm until they got to the hospital, where everyone was pronounced to be in perfect health.

Ellis said Audrey's dramatic birth certainly made up for the other two he missed.

"Glad to be there, didn't know I was going to be that close, and didn't know I'd have that different of a story," Ellis said.

Ellis still had one more issue to deal with. He told 12 News he borrowed his in-laws' cars to drive his wife to the hospital.

So after seeing her newest grandchild, Ellis said the next stop his mother-in-law made was to the car wash.

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